TV5, a major commercial station in the Philippines, is building an advanced newsroom facility that will streamline its existing workflow and allow it to get news to air faster and with greater efficiency.
Masstech, a provider of media asset management solutions, is working with Avid to initiate the first phase of a project.
The solution incorporates Masstech’s Topaz for media asset management (MAM), Avid iNEWS newsroom computer systems and Interplay Production asset management solution, as well as Spectra T950 and LTO-5 archive libraries. The new installation will integrate Topaz with Interplay and iNEWS platforms via the Media Object Server Communications (MOS) protocol, enabling newsroom staff to search, browse, identify and quickly access news content for production purposes. Masstech’s archiving systems support MOS protocol by fully integrating the iNEWS system and NewsCutter HD editing systems with MAM and workflow automation.
Recognizing growth potential in scalable content management solutions for newsrooms, Masstech has provided cost-effective digital archiving to broadcasters such as TV3 in New Zealand and ABS-CBN in Manila.
Once fully implemented, journalists can quickly search news archives and capture only the desired footage at their desk. Using the Topaz Web-based browser application on their iNEWS workstation, they can search the archive to locate media content via the clip name, archive date or other key metadata. Topaz manages the transfer of key metadata between its archive database and the Interplay production database.
After ingesting, media clips are archived from within NewsCutter and Interplay Assist module. Then journalists can search and preview stories by browsing a low-resolution proxy. Once the appropriate media files are located, users select the desired clip or just sections of them using the Topaz XT-Edit partial restore, hence calling back only footage that is required rather than the whole file. This means zooming in on a particular scene for example a policeman pointing his gun, rather than the entire crime scene.
Topaz will also allow the journalist to embed references to the video for a story in iNEWS so they can later research historical footage. Journalists or newsroom assistants can search locators or create shot-lists of archived content they wish to use in a news bulletin. In the time-constrained world of breaking news and being the first to air, news staff can utilize these features to find overlay footage to enhance and produce news stories that have greater impact. Once the desired footage is marked, journalists can edit the media content using NewsCutter. Any clips sent to archive with the same name as an existing clip in there will not be rearchived, preventing file duplication and saving storage space.
